The July 2026 Website Design & Google SEO Guide

For Interior Designers, Architects & Builders

Attract high end clients to your business WITH AI & Google SEARCHES

Justin Page Wood grew up in Southern California and designed his first website for an Architect in California in 2005 while studying Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona. He then started designing websites full-time for design firms after graduating with his Bachelors of Architecture in 2010. Since then, our design team has designed well over 1200 websites for interior designers, architects, and custom home builders all across the United States and Canada.

Are high-end clients really using Google Searches an AI to find professional firms online?

From data published by Google searches for “Interior Designers Near Me” and “Home Builder Near Me” in the United States has not only returned back to the level during the COVID 2021 and 2022 boom years — in 2026 online searches for design professionals are surging.

High-end clients are turning to online searches more than ever to hire professionals in their area. And from my own internal data, higher-income clients are more likely to use Google to search for professionals than those in the middle or lower income brackets.

In this Website & SEO guide, I’m going to show you exactly how your clients are going to be looking for an Interior Designer, Architect or Home Builder on Google.

Here is what your clients will do when looking for an Interior Designer, Architect or Home Builder in 2026:

1 They Search on Google or an AI search tool

The first thing a serious client is going to do is their own homework using Google, Gemini, ChatGPT or Grok to search for phrases like “Interior Designer Near Me’ or “Interior Designer in Austin, Texas” or other similar phrases. These keywords need to be optimized properly on your Website in order for clients to find you easily in your area.

2 They Read Your Reviews

The next thing a client is going to do is carefully read your Google Reviews. A serious client is going to take the time to read numerous reviews, the good and the bad. A high-end homeowners needs to see Reviews because it helps take away the risk of hiring someone they do not know. A very good client will read every single review, so it is important to not have generic reviews. They need to include specifics, like what went wrong and what went right.

3 They Visit Your Website

After a potential client finds your Google Reviews, they are going to jump straight to your website. A potential client is very unlikely to simply call your office. They will do more research by visiting the main pages of your website: Home, Portfolio, About Services, and Contact. Your website is the best place to make a good impression of your brand, with the best photos of you, your office, and your design work — which is why professional photography of your work is critical.

4 They Read your About Page

Many visitors to your website are going to skip straight to your About page. This is where you need to explain a lot about you, the business owner and principal designer, with a photo of you, your office, your team, and more information about your background. It should not just be professional information, but personal information such as where you grew up, where you went to school, where you have lived, and where you live today, as well as a little about your family, your hobbies, and other interests that have connected well with your previous clientele. The more personal you can make this, the better you will connect with potential clients coming from Google searches. And in 2026, people want to know more about who they are going to work with than they would have in the past, especially if you are going to be visiting them in their home.

5 They Review your Services

Everyone wants to find someone “Like Them,” and your website is an opportunity to explain that you understand where they are coming from. Most of your clients will not understand the services, terminology and language of the industry. They just want to know you can help “them” specifically, based on your location and whether you specialize in such as kitchens, baths, whole home renovations, or other services.

6 They Inquire for More Information

The final and most ideal result is that a client fills out the form on your Contact page. You will want to capture their name, email, phone number, and physical address as well as encourage them to explain more about what they’re looking for. Good clients will have a sense of their overall budget and scope of work, so it’s good to ask for that information as well so you can verify that this is a serious client. From there, you follow up with the potential client for a Consultation in person or by phone just like you normally would. A lead coming from Google is often times a very, very serious lead, more than any other marketing tool because by the time they have inquired for your services, they have done extensive research on you, your firm, read your Google reviews and looked for other information about you before reaching out.

Our SEO & Website Design team takes care of each of these items to optimize everything each Month on Google & AI Search, as well as with your Website to help more clients find your firm online.

The two most important things you must be willing to have in order for SEO to work for your firm are:

• A publicly-listed address on Google. It cannot be a PO Box or virtual office. It must be a professional office location.

• The willingness to continue asking clients to leave reviews on Google. Again, clients take these very seriously and it is an important part of SEO Optimization. We know some of your clients wont want to leave public reviews, so it can also be contractors, vendors, and other professionals you work with.

To see if we have a spot available in your region, you can get on our waitlist and we will follow up by email with next steps.